Senior Gabe Rosenberg led his Nautalific teammates, with clutch shooting down the stretch, to the championship over Run 'N' Gun in the first ever Managers vs. Cancer basketball tournament. The win for Nautilific ended a fun Saturday night at the White Building as the Penn State basketball managers put together the tournament to raise money for Managers vs. Cancer

This is the first year Penn State has participated in Managers vs. Cancer, which raises money for the American Cancer Society.

Rosenberg said he didn't realize he was scoring a majority of Nautilific's points in the title game, attributing the win to a team effort. He said it wasn't difficult to ignore the pressure.

"[I] tried not to think about it, and just had fun," Rosenberg said.

Many Penn State basketball players and coaches, highlighted by head coach and cancer survivor Ed DeChellis, showed up to show their support for the managers and the event.

According to head manager Lucas Mariano, team entrance fees and raffle ticket sales raised $505 for the program. The total amount raised including donations was not available at press time.

"The managers worked really hard putting it together, and they raised over $500 for cancer." DeChellis said.

He added that it was a great event, and there was good basketball.

The championship game was competitive and physical as both teams committed eight fouls.

Both Nautilific and Run 'N' Gun escaped from the same pool with identical 5-1 records, with their losses coming to each other. The rubber match between the teams in the championship game was set-up when both teams navigated their way through the championship bracket.

Junior Patrick Brown said the teams have somewhat of a rivalry and have met many times at the IM Building in the past.

Sophomore forward Steve Kirkpatrick and redshirt sophomore forward Andrew Ott said they wanted to come out and support their managers who put in many hours to help them out.

Ott said it is special they are going above and beyond because they are on the court as much as the players.

"I think what they are doing is awesome," Kirkpatrick said. "It is always a good thing to go above the call of duty"

Brown said he noticed the support of coach DeChellis, who personally congratulated the team on its championship, and thought it was neat he took the time to show up. He said he thinks most coaches wouldn't have come to an event like this.

"It was cool for him to come out," Brown said.

Assistant manager Jimmy Bowen said he didn't know what to expect coming in, but said the managers were extremely pleased with the turnout and the success of the event.

"We tried to anticipate everything that could have possibly gone wrong, and tonight it seemed like everything went right," Mariano said. "It was the dream scenario."

Bowen said the day was a success and something to build on for future events. He said he was very pleased with the efforts of all of the managers.

He said it was a true team effort, and all of the 20 managers played a role in the successful event.

"Everyone seems to be having fun and that's all we could really ask for," Bowen said.